5 colleges facing accusations of anti-Semitism on campus after Hamas attack

Harvard University

Shortly after Hamas' attack, the Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups released a letter co-signed by more than 30 student groups that blamed Israel for the violence. 

"Today's events did not occur in a vacuum," the letter stated. "The apartheid regime is the only one to blame."

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The letter, which didn't explicitly condemn the violence against Israelis, received backlash from former students and faculty, including Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, a Harvard law school alumnus, and former Harvard President Larry Summers.

In an Oct. 9 tweet, Cruz questioned how Harvard students could support a terrorist group, stating that their "blazing hatred & antisemitism [is] utterly blinding." 

After Harvard University released a statement on Oct. 9, expressing that the institution was "heartbroken" by the "death and destruction" unleashed by Hamas against Israeli civilians, Summers criticized the school for its "delayed" statement. The former Harvard president stated in an Oct. 10 social media post that the statement "fails to meet the needs of the moment."

Harvard University's current president, Claudine Gay, released a statement on Oct. 10 condemning the terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas. She clarified that the views of students or student groups do not speak for the university as a whole. 

Following the condemnation, multiple student groups that originally signed onto the letter — including Amnesty International at Harvard, Harvard College Act on a Dream, the Harvard Undergraduate Nepali Student Association — withdrew their signatures. 

A spokesperson for the AOD student group claimed earlier this month that its board members were not aware the organization had signed the letter and that it did not reflect the organization's views on the conflict. 

"As an organization, we want to express our empathy and solidarity for all the victims who have been affected by the violence in the region," AOD stated. 

Amid the public outcry to the letter, the law firm Davis Polk announced that it had rescinded offers of employment to several law students, including Harvard students, due to statements about the Israel and Hamas war that it deemed contrary to the firm's values.